As a hotly contested national election season wraps up with Wednesday’s inauguration, some Alaskans are returning their gaze to an issue closer to home — the recall of Gov. Mike Dunleavy.<\/p>\n
“What we’re doing now is we’re trying to ramp back up and reengage with this effort,” said Pat Race, volunteer with the Recall Dunleavy<\/a> campaign, during a news conference Tuesday. “I think the pandemic and the election cycle really mindwiped a bunch of us, and it’s time to remember why we’re doing this.”<\/p>\n The recall petition currently has 49,520 out of the 71,252 signatures required, according to the campaign’s website. A special election will be triggered if the movement reaches the required number of of signatures, which the group has stated it wants to do by mid-March.<\/p>\n “No group’s ever gathered 70,000 signatures, so that’s a significant hurdle,” said Scott Kendall, a lawyer with the group, during the news conference. “There’s no deadline passed and there’s no remaining legal barrier to the recall.”<\/p>\n The group is focusing on gaining the required 20,000 signatures now, sending out booklets by request that can be signed and certified by as many as 15 people. There’s also a list on their website<\/a> of locations where residents wishing to take part in the exercise can sign.<\/p>\n [State House remains unorganized after first day]<\/ins><\/a><\/p>\n “If we don’t hold him accountable, no one will,” Race said. “I think it’s very important that we hold Governor Dunleavy accountable through this process.”<\/p>\n The group put its efforts largely on hold as the pandemic made gathering the required signatures potentially unsafe, said Vince Beltrami, a member of the steering committee.<\/p>\n “One of the questions we get is ‘why are you still doing this? Is this still going on?’ And the answer is yes,” Beltrami said during the conference. “It’s time to get back onto this horse and keep the pressure on the governor. Some of his plans put us on a path towards fiscal destruction with no plan to get out of it.”<\/p>\n